Home
by Negateaux
Summary: Rey and Finn catch up on their respective journey's after leaving the battle of Crait. One-Shot.


Thanks for checking out my little one-shot. This is a scene I envisioned right after The Last Jedi ends. It is also a submission to FinnRey Fridays but that's besides the point. Enjoy.

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The door to the "bedroom" closes quickly behind Rey as she enters. The place is far from what anyone would call luxurious and yet, it's nicer than anything she's slept in before this moment. She wonders if she could call this place home. Even if just for a while. Jakku may have been where she grew up but that place was never somewhere she felt accepted.

She can still hear the voices of the few remaining Resistance members outside but she tunes them all out as she slowly approaches the bed. She finds herself stepping over and around whatever supplies the Resistance had been able to pack in in order to reach her destination but once she sits down, the weight of the day seems to lift off her shoulders. Even if only slightly.

A yawn escapes her mouth, she hadn't realized until this moment just how tired she was. She wonders when she last slept. She reaches to the tie in her hair and pulls it loose, allowing her long brown hair to cascade over her shoulders. She almost never has it down like this, too many years wearing the same three-bun hairstyle. A style she doesn't even know the origin of.

Rey stares at the door, unable to shake the feeling that she should be doing..._something._ Anything more than resting. Leia had insisted. "You earned a good nights sleep." She'd told Rey after Poe had finished his story. Apparently she and Poe were "torture buddies" now after both of them being tortured by Ben. The morbid thought brings a smile to her face.

She lays down on the makeshift bed, convinced that sleep won't find her. Too many thoughts swim through her head. _The war. Luke Skywalker. Finn. Ben._ _Poe. The Resistance. The Lightsaber. Finn…_ Her eyes suddenly increase their weight by ten times and she has no choice but to close them.

The change feels immediate. She's dreaming and she knows it. The feeling is... unfamiliar to say the least. There was never the luxury of dreaming back on Jakku. Her mind was always far too alert for sleep like that. Had to be, otherwise the days haul could be taken by any number of creatures. But here, on the _Falcon_, the sound of voices and the small engine hum seemed to sway her into sleep.

She opens her eyes to the dreamscape, and she's immediately assaulted by the smell of blood and sweat. She's in Snoke's throne room, the red bodies of his guards litter the floor and Ben stands in front of her, dressed head to toe in black, breath coming ragged. In the dream, his helmet is on, and even still she can feel his desperation as he reaches out to her. "You're nothing," He says again, the words still leaving Rey with the bitter taste of truth. "But not to me." The statement still lands on her heart just as it did the first time. Her parents were no one, she had no place in this adventure but here Ben stood asking for her. He wants _her _Wants _her _power_._ The tears still sting her face. Just as they did before. _Perhaps, this is home._ She wonders to herself. Maybe if she had taken his hand, she would find a place she belonged.

She knows this is a dream and yet she can feel herself moving her hand. She can't resist its pull this time, just like when she was in training and their hands touched. This was the feeling she was waiting for. It had to be, right? Their hands are nearly an inch apart, her heart beats in her chest, _so close…_

A metallic clang breaks off her concentration. She stops right before she makes contact and turns toward the sound. A lone figure, clad in white stands at the far end of the hall. "Don't listen to him, Rey!" The voice seems familiar but she can't place it. The figure runs towards the two of them and as it gets closer she realizes that it's a stormtrooper. A stormtrooper whose mask is covered on its left side with three streaks of red. It doesn't take long to tell that it's blood. The trooper stops a few feet away. "You were never nothing. Especially not to me." The words stir something in her. It was Ben...no Kylo Ren's words but different. She turns back to Ren but now he's closer. His hand is now up around her upper chest as if he can't decide whether he wants to choke her or feel her heartbeat.

"He doesn't have what you need." Ren says through his modulated voice. "I do." The trooper gets closer again.

"He's wrong. You know where you belong. With me, with _us._" The trooper says back in almost a whisper. Why did his voice sound so familiar? So trustworthy? She looks back at Ren, his hand closer to her throat now, her heart beating even faster, threatening to explode. She looks back at the trooper and reaches out to him. The trooper nods and approaches closer, his hand also outstretched.

Another metallic clang rings across her mind but this one is different. This one is real. She opens her eyes and she's back on the _Falcon,_ blue lines of hyperspace still streaking across the window to the room. The sound comes again a few seconds later, someone is knocking on the door. "Come in," Rey says through raspy and unused vocal cords as she sits up. How long had she been sleeping?

The door opens as a familiar and comforting face crosses the threshold. "Oh," Finn says with sadness. "I woke you up didn't I?" Rey smiles and rubs her eyes.

"No, no. Don't worry about it. What's going on, are we about to land?"

"No I just wanted to…" Finn trails off as he stares off into the pile of supplies. "I just wanted to check on you, I guess." Rey cocks her head to the side. She still wasn't used to someone being concerned for her. Truly concerned. When the two first met, he had asked her if she was okay as they tried to escape from Jakku. It had been the first time she's ever heard it. Now here he was, checking on her again. The thought lifted her spirits. Rey pats the space next to her, indicating Finn to come and sit by her. Her meets her gaze for just a moment before heading over.

"I meant to come by before," he begins to say. "But I wanted to let you sleep. And I need to keep an eye on Rose. She's hurt pretty bad." Rey gazes around the room, trying to connect the name. Rose must be the girl he checked on twice already. Finn didn't know her before, and now he was already checking on her again and again.

"Rose." Rey says with concern. "What happened to her?" Finn chuckles a bit.

"I guess we both went through something while we were apart, huh? Rose saved me. I was about to...do something pretty stupid. She stopped me." Rey narrowed her eyes quizzically, hoping he would continue. He did not.

"How stupid are we talking exactly?" She finds herself unable to resist asking. Finn leans back a little.

"It's nothing," He says. "Just a little lapse in judgement is all. Forget all that though. I want to know what meeting Luke was like! Tell me all about jedi training." Rey sighs, not knowing exactly how to even start that story.

"I've got an idea, Finn."

"Yeah?"

"I'll tell you about jedi training, if you tell me what you were up to first." Her face forms a wry smile as the last of the words come out. Finn nods with a smirk on his face.

"I have a better idea."

"What?"

"I'll tell you about how I saved an entire animal species, inspired a bunch of kids and," His expression soured for a moment. "And how I went home. If _you_ tell me about jedi training first." Rey chuckles just a bit.

"You know, I could just use the force to make you tell me." Rey says with a smirk.

"Oh, that's how it's going to be?!" The two of them laugh, and suddenly Rey feels herself forgetting about the dream. Forgetting about the war. Forgetting about what awaited them in the future. If only for a moment. She decides to yield to Finn's request and she tells her story.

As the words come out she finds that out of everyone she could be telling this story, she hoped it would be him. It felt like she'd grown ten years older in just the few days since they'd last seen each other. And being able to talk, just talk to him like this made her feel...something she couldn't yet describe. All she knows is that she'd felt it since he came to rescue her on Starkiller base.

Finn listens intently, showing almost child-like excitement during some parts of the story, asking questions about almost every part. So she tells him everything. How Luke had refused to train her in the beginning. How she felt the connection with Kylo Ren. How she fell into that cave against Luke's wishes. _How I wish you'd been there. Maybe you could have stopped me from doing what I did._

"You must think me quite foolish," She says as the story wraps up. "To risk it all on Kylo Ren. To be so very wrong about him in the end." Finn lets down the smile he's held nearly the whole time and gazes deeply in her eyes.

"Never." Finn places a firm hand on her shoulder. "I won't judge what happened with Ren. I wasn't there and I don't have the force. I know it's different for you." She nods and a silence passes between them as Finn's hand slides off her shoulder. After a moment Rey gives Finn a small shove.

"I believe it's your turn." Finn's face lights up.

"Ah, yes. Prepare to have your mind blown."

Finn begins his story in earnest. Rey listens to the whole story without any interruptions. Finn tells her about waking up in the med-bay. How he planned on leaving to find her just so she wouldn't have to get involved in the war once she was done training. He spent a lot of time discussing his adventure on Canto Bight and how that led to the "species rescue" he had mentioned before. He told her about his battle against Phasma, a fight he found himself secretly wishing for long before that day.

"You have to understand," He continued. "I was angry. Really angry. The First Order had already taken so much from the people of this galaxy. I just wanted to…" He trails off again. "I wanted to _hurt_ them. To stop them from taking the last bit of hope from this galaxy. So I set the thrusters to full power and closed my eyes. I knew what was going to happen but I didn't care." He takes a deep breath. "Then Rose crashed her speeder right into mine. The crash knocked me out of the line of fire. I was fine but she got hurt pretty bad. That's why I keep checking on her. I owe her.

"Then we lost Luke. Lost everything." He looks right into her eyes once again. "I thought for sure the First Order was going to wipe us all out right then. But then I saw you lifting those rocks." He smiles a wide grin, showing off a perfect row of white teeth that contrasted with his dark skin. "I knew then, I know now, that we'll win. We'll win because of you, Rey." Rey narrows her gaze, unable to process the compliment in its full form before he continues.

"When I saw you lifting those rocks, I got scared, you know? Scared that maybe you'd be different. That training would have changed you. Even if just a little. But when I-" He cuts himself off seemingly too embarrassed to say what he wanted to say, if his quick detachment from her eyes was anything to go by. "Well, you know." Rey nods. She knows what he was too afraid to say. She had felt the same when they embraced on Crait.

"Anyway," Finn starts again. "I should probably let you get some rest. Considering what you told me, you're probably still pretty beat." Finn starts to get up but Rey quickly lays a hand on his shoulder. He looks back at her. "What is it?" He asks confused.

"I just-" She searches for the right words in her mind. "Thank you, Finn." He looks confused.

"I didn't do anything. You're the one doing all the cool stuff."

"You put yourself in harms way for me. Again." Finn covers her hand with his.

"Let's just agree to watch each others backs from here on out, okay?" Rey nods her head in earnest. Finn gets up and starts to walk away.

"Wait Finn, one more thing." He turns his head back but keeps his body forward. "Can I see it?" He turns back fully and looks confused for a moment. Rey says nothing, hoping to not have to say it. After a moment understanding crosses his face.

"You don't want to do that, Rey. It's just going to bring up bad memories."

"I need to see it Finn. If I was stronger, it never would have happened." She was referring to the scar across his back from his fight with Kylo Ren. Her vision had been blurry when it happened but once they had returned to the Resistance base, she'd caught a brief glimpse of it. It didn't look good. Finn took a deep breath but turned around anyway. He slowly peeled off the shirt he wore and Rey was horrified by the site.

The gash went nearly from his left hip to his right shoulder. The area around the scar was blackened like ash while the cut itself was a deep red, clearly not healed properly despite medical assistance. Rey slowly approaches and traces the skin of the scar. Finn shudders at her touch but doesn't move away. The sound of Finn's screams ring through her memories. She blames herself, if she hadn't been so careless back then, she wouldn't be staring at this horrific image. Finn inches away and quickly puts his shirt back on. "I told you it was a bad idea." Finn says without meeting her eyes.

"You're right." Rey says while looking at the ground. Silence falls between them again before she suddenly feels Finn's arms wrap around her. Without even thinking, she returns the gesture.

"It's all right, Rey. I don't blame you for this at all. I'm fine. We're both fine. Next time we see Kylo Ren, feel free to go ahead and take him down. For both of us this time" It's here in this moment Rey finally realizes what she'd felt with Finn. Something she had never known up until this moment. Maz's words come into focus. "_The belonging you seek isn't behind you."_ Maz was right. The belonging she sought wasn't anywhere but here in Finn's arms. This was what she felt when they embraced on Starkiller Base. What she felt when they saw each other on Crait. _This is home._

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I hope you enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it. I love this duo and I hope even more stories come with them in the lead roles. Please feel free to critique the story as I would love to make improvements. Thanks.


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